Organization to open clinic providing abortions in Las Cruces area

LAS CRUCES &GT;&GT; A private, Texas-based company will open a women's clinic that will provide gynecological services, including abortion, in the Las Cruces area Sept. 15.

A representative from Whole Women's Health confirmed the clinic's opening but could provide no other information, including the future address, by press time.

The clinic will be the second in the county to provide abortion services, along with Hill Top Women's Reproductive Clinic in Santa Teresa. Hill Top also operates a clinic in El Paso that remains open for now.

A federal judge on Friday ruled against a Texas law requiring clinics in the state to maintain hospital-level operating standards, a requirement that had shuttered many centers. The judge also exempted clinics in El Paso and McAllen from a requirement that doctors who perform abortions hold admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Whole Woman's Health also operates clinics in McAllen, Texas; San Antonio; Baltimore; Fort Worth; and the Twin Cities, according to its website. It closed its Austin clinic earlier this year due to the Texas law, HB 2, but will continue to operate the other Texas offices in light of the federal ruling, according to its blog.

The Las Cruces location will accept state Medicaid, and offer abortion procedures up to 18 weeks of pregnancy, according to the blog.

Because New Mexico law does not require it, the clinic will be able to provide same-day abortion procedures, according to the blog. Some states, including Texas, require a waiting period between confirming pregnancy and the abortion procedure.

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"Whole Woman's Health of New Mexico not only opens up access to abortion care in southern New Mexico and Juárez, but it also gives access to women in El Paso and the swaths of west Texas ..." a statement on the blog reads. "We will be the only National Abortion Federation certified clinic in the area."

"We have long seen the need for comprehensive reproductive health-care services in many communities throughout New Mexico, and we enthusiastically applaud Whole Woman's Health for opening a clinic in Las Cruces that addresses a significant gap in women's access to reproductive healthcare in that region," Pamelya Herndon, executive director of the Southwest Women's Law Center in Albuquerque, said in an emailed statement.

State Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Doña Ana, said she hoped the clinic would not just look to "make a buck" by skirting Texas' strict regulations.

"I want to make sure that women have access to reproductive health and education," she said, adding abortion is a "serious issue" and she hopes the clinic will emphasize reproductive education.

Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces said he will put together a study group to see how the clinic "affects the community and how to respond to that new presence in our community." Such responses could included prayer and pursuing legislation, he said.

"We're certainly in favor of services for women, in particular when they're readily available, for certain STD testing, but, as I think everyone is aware, the church has always been opposed to abortion ..." Cantú said. "We believe it to be immoral to destroy that life, so we're very concerned about this development."

The Whole Woman's Health website says it is a company owned by women and provides teen- and LGBT-friendly care. Amy Hagstrom Miller founded the company in 2003.

A spokesman from Gov. Susana Martinez's office declined to comment on the announcement.

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